A new Obama administration policy allowing lawful permanent residents to apply for in-country refugee processing amounts to a “government-sanctioned border surge,” in the words of Sixth District Congressman Bob Goodlatte.

“Under this abusive new policy, unlawful immigrants in the United States, once they are granted executive amnesty by the President, can now rely on the Obama administration to bring their child, and possibly their spouse, who are in Central America to our country,” said Goodlatte, R-Va., the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. “Rather than take the steps necessary to end the crisis at the border, the Obama administration perpetuates it by abusing a legal tool meant to be used sparingly to bring people to the United States and instead applying it to the masses in Central America.”

The State Department and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Friday that certain aliens – lawful permanent residents and those with temporary protected status, parole, withholding of removal, deferred action, and deferred enforced departure – will be able to petition for their unmarried children under the age of 21 and their current spouse (if they live with the child) to be considered for in-country refugee processing.

If they do not meet the refugee requirements under the law, they can then be considered for parole into the United States, a tool that is, even according to the Administration itself, meant to be used sparingly on a case-by-case basis.

To qualify, the alien’s family must be in Honduras, Guatemala, or El Salvador.

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